Home Sweet Home
by feriket
Summary: After the death of Eren's parents, Levi took him in. Modern AU.
1. To Us, The Beginning

Summary: Levi decided to take in Eren in after his parents' death.

* * *

The fucking relatives were making a fantastic show of themselves as they discussed where Eren was going to live.

Levi hadn't had this great of a headache since the death of his own parents, when these same relatives were arguing about the same fucking thing. At the time, Levi, to spare his head from splitting in two, had told everyone that he was going to be eighteen in a few months and not a fucking kid anymore, so everyone could just shut it. "And please take your shitty mess with you when you leave," he had added.

But Eren was in a worse situation compared to Levi because Eren was still a kid, and thus was shackled with the responsibility of living with complete strangers. Levi got sick of hearing excuses on why this person or that person couldn't be a fucking decent human being and take care of the damn brat, so he volunteered. Might as well. If he wanted something done, he had to do it himself.

"If you want to punch anyone of them in the face, you can," Levi walked up to Eren, who was curled up in the corner of his bedroom. "They won't sue." He was speaking from personal experience. "It's the only time that you can punch people in the face and might be able to get away with it."

And Eren, angry and hurt and upset and wanting to take out his pain on someone else, had swung his fist toward Levi's face. Levi, reacting on instinct, had caught his fist and pushed Eren against the bed, restraining the brat before he could get a trial two on Levi's face.

"You said I could do it," Eren hissed angrily.

"I said you _might_ be able to get away with it," Levi shrugged.

"I hate you. I hate you all." Eren's angry expression melted, and then all that was left was something so painful that Levi was suddenly reminded of his own parents who had left this world. Levi loosened his grip on Eren, and Eren collapsed into a ball again, hiding his tears.

"Yeah well, get in line," Levi whispered to himself. He sighed, and then moved to sit next to Eren, bumping against Eren's shoulder.

"Go away."

"It sucks crying alone, brat," Levi said simply, and made no move to leave.

Eren didn't seem to protest his presence after that. The damn brat did cry for a long time though. Levi's ass was sore from waiting for him.

* * *

Despite the suggestions from many relatives, Levi thought it was a better idea for him to spend a few nights at Eren's house rather than move the brat immediately to his apartment. It wasn't because his apartment didn't have space—far from it—but he thought Eren needed some familiarity from having too many things taken away from him at once.

"I'll go with you," Eren interrupted Levi's conversation with the others regarding Eren's living arrangement. Eren squared his shoulders, as if he was trying to prove that he was stronger than Levi had thought.

"We're staying here," Levi said firmly. Then, to cut off all arguments, "I don't have to get back until Thursday." That was a lie. He was going to call Irvin later. This was going to take away all of his sick days.

"I don't need you to baby me!"

"I have no intention of babying anyone." Levi crossed his arms. He felt insulted that anyone could think he was capable of babying anyone. _Did he look like that kind of person?_

"Well I don't need you to be my parents!"

"No, I'm not your parents," said Levi. "I'm not a fucking nanny service. And I'm not going to pretend I am. I will be here for you until you can stand on your own. Nothing more. Don't get fancy ideas in your head."

"Levi, maybe we should have him stay with someone else," one of the distant aunts said. She seemed concerned with the rough way Levi was talking to Eren. Levi couldn't blame her. Flowery word was never his strength. "Eren needs a proper home and proper parental guidance—"

"No, I want him." Eren's words startled both Levi and the aunt. "I'm not some weakling that needs someone to coddle me. The world doesn't have room for the weak."

"Oh hoh." Levi was impressed. "Not bad."

The aunt spluttered. "But—"

"I'm not saying that I trust him as a fully grown adult," Levi explained. This was an eleven year-old kid here-he wasn't having delusions. "I'll keep an eye on him until he becomes one. Besides, I didn't turn out too bad, did I?" Granted, he had some money his parents left behind, but now at least Eren would have him.

"Levi—" The expression on her face told Levi that she very much disagreed with how well he turned out, but Levi didn't want to hear that from her because at least he had a job, unlike a certain son of hers currently sucking up his parents' retirement money.

"I'll do my best," Levi looked at Eren, addressing him more than the aunt.

Eren returned his gaze with determination, and Levi knew that he wasn't the only one who was going to do his best.

* * *

Levi resigned himself to a long evening on the couch because Eren's house didn't have a guest bedroom, and sleeping in the master bedroom would be weird. Not that Eren's parents would use it, but it was disrespectful to Eren's parents and Eren himself.

Not that it mattered. Levi had slept in worse places.

It had been a long day, and he was exhausted, but he couldn't sleep. He checked on Eren every hour or so just to make sure the kid was asleep and not doing something incredibly stupid like killing himself. Levi doubted that he would, but still.

Eren had been peacefully lying in his bed, facing the wall so Levi couldn't tell whether he was asleep or not. By the fifth check, Levi assumed that Eren was sleeping, but then Eren's voice stopped him before he could return to his lovely hot date with the couch.

"You know, you don't have to check on me this often. I'm fine by myself."

Levi paused. If Eren had been awake this whole time, and he hadn't stopped Levi the first few times, then he might not be as bothered by Levi's presence as Levi had originally thought.

"Can't sleep?" Levi walked into Eren's room and sat on the bed, Eren warm against his back.

Eren didn't reply.

They sat in silence. Levi reached a hand out and rubbed Eren's shoulder gently. It was the only act of consolation that he knew. He tried to remember what he did after his parents' funeral, but the memory was weird and he didn't think it would help. After he received news of his parents' death, and after the many phone calls from relatives and so many _"I'm so sorry for your loss,"_ he couldn't take it anymore and just drove off. Levi had stopped by a gas station in the middle of nowhere and bought a blueberry blast slushy and sat on the concrete by his car as his gas tank was filled, even though the ground was disgusting with dirt and trash and oil. He had felt numb and strange, as if all of his feelings and his ability to give a shit had all drained out somewhere.

Levi had stared at the slushy in his hand, the condensation beading on the red straw and the blue ice slowly melting under the eerie orange light above, and then he heard, "Are you alright?"

When he glanced upward and saw the concerned face of the cashier, who had come out to check on him because he was sitting there for thirty minutes, "I hope you're okay," he said, and then Levi suddenly felt his eyes becoming wet and his nose beginning to sting as the realization that he was really alone in the world sank in. He was currently sitting in the middle of nowhere at some god-forsaken gas station, and the only one to see how lonely he was was some complete stranger who thought he was mental. For some reason Levi had felt like crying, but he didn't. He quickly left to cry alone, feeling weak and pathetic and abandoned.

The room suddenly felt stuffy. Levi felt restless even though his body was exhausted to the bone.

Eren's muffled sniffle startled him.

"I'm sorry," Eren mumbled. "I wish I could be stronger than this."

"You're a lot stronger than I was when I was your age," Levi said. "There's no point in rushing to get over your parents' death." Grief wasn't something that he could control.

Levi lay down on the bed and nudged Eren's shoulder. He offered his arms for an awkward hug when Eren's puffy eyes turned to meet his. "Come on," he said. Hanji had said this was the comforting thing to do for little kids.

"Gross! I'm not a little kid," Eren growled, although Levi could see in his eyes that he was contemplating Levi's offer. Eren turned away from Levi once more. "The world has no room for weaklings." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself, his voice cracking over his words.

"The world doesn't have room for idiots who don't take advantage of the offered help either, and yet here you are," said Levi, very much being a hypocrite as he said this, and Eren's shoulders jerked in anger or hurt, Levi couldn't tell. "But that doesn't mean shit."

"You may have lost your place in the world," and here Levi softened his tone, or at least, tried to sound less like he was going to beat the shit out of someone. "But you'll find one with me, even if it's not as good as your parents'."

"You can't replace them."

"And I won't be."

Eren was silent, so Levi didn't know if his words got through, but at least the damn brat wasn't sniffling anymore.

Levi wasn't sure when he had fallen asleep, but when he woke up, Eren was curled up against him, his head resting warmly against Levi's chest. Levi checked his watch. It was only four a.m.

Levi sighed as he reached around Eren for the blanket and pulled it over them both. Eren stirred at the movement, face scrunching as he fumbled sleepily for warmth, and Levi lay down next to him until he calmed back to a deep sleep. The dim streetlight peeking through the window curtains gently washed over his face, and Eren looked even more like a kid than he did before.

"Fucking brat," Levi said under his breath, watching Eren's sleeping face, peaceful despite the drying tears. "The reason I'm here is so that you don't have to cry alone."

As Levi slowly fell asleep himself, he thought he might have imagined Eren snuggling closer to him at the sound of his words.


	2. A Matter of Trust

**Summary:** Levi had to attend a parent-teacher conference after Eren got into a fight with Jean.

* * *

Levi was already in a bad mood after lunch with Irvin when he returned to the office to receive a call from Eren's school. He had just been lectured by Irvin on his ability to raise a child, and now he was going to be lectured by a complete stranger on the same topic. All in one day. Fucking amazing.

It was embarrassing because just after Irvin's lecture on Levi's questionable intelligence for taking in Eren when he couldn't even take care of himself, and right after Levi had fervently defended himself, Levi had to ask Irvin for an early leave because Eren's school expected him to be at a conference discussing Eren's spectacular fight during lunch time. Irvin had given him an _'I told you so'_look.

"So life as a father," Hanji's disgustingly cheerful voice flared through his ear piece, and Levi seriously reconsidered his decision to call her after work. "How's it working out? Will I get to meet him?" Levi glanced anxiously at the clock on his dashboard.

"Not if Child Services decides to take him away first," Levi sighed.

"What happened?"

"I got a call from the Principal's office," said Levi. "Apparently he got into a really bad fight." He resisted the urge to hit something because he was driving, and it did no one any good if he got into an accident now.

"It'll be okay," Hanji said gently, probably sensing Levi's irritation. "Just remember to keep calm and handle the situation. You're doing fine."

"Obviously not because it's only been three weeks and the damn brat already got into trouble," Levi growled irritably. "I don't know how to talk to him." He had been communicating to Eren like an adult because that was the only way he knew, but Eren had been nonresponsive most of the time.

"Give him time," Hanji said. "He's not used to you yet. Remember when you have that parent conference that you need to show him that you trust him. You're on his side."

"Not if he's wrong, I'm not." There was no way in hell Levi would give Eren a break if he dared get into a fight over something incredibly stupid.

"Be gentle."

"I'm not making any promises," said Levi, although he already knew to tone it down even if Hanji didn't tell him. Levi himself definitely had a history of lashing out often when he was younger, and he remembered being completely not amused when adults chastised him, even though, as he thought about it now, he was in the wrong.

Besides, even if Hanji said Levi needed to be on Eren's side in this, it was very unlikely that he could. Most likely, Eren would be expected to apologize no matter how right or wrong he was; it was a school, and violence, no matter how necessary, was intolerable.

Levi prepared himself for a long afternoon.

* * *

The first thing Levi did when he saw Eren was to pull his handkerchief from his pocket and wish that he had a first aid kit with him. Eren was sitting in one of the chairs in front of the principal's office, a bloody hand over his nose, his head tilted backwards to hold the blood back. Without even a greeting, Levi gently pried Eren's hand off his nose and, with the handkerchief, pinched Eren's nose tightly with his thumb and his index finger.

Eren looked surprised to see him. "You're here," he mumbled.

"Lean forward," Levi said. "Slowly." Eren gently lifted his head, and Levi kept his other hand firmly at Eren's back. "Sit up straight."

Bloody nose aside, Eren looked terrible. There were a lot of wounds that he thought definitely needed care, and Levi felt his anger rising again, now for a different reason. Eren was bleeding all over the place, so why the hell wasn't he in the nurse's office? This school had one, right?

"Why didn't they send you to the nurse's office?" Levi asked, and Eren winced at his cold tone.

"He refused to go," the receptionist piqued up helpfully. "He threw a fit, and we didn't want to hurt him, so…"

Levi wanted to hear that from Eren himself, but Eren was busy trying not to meet his eyes. "Why not?" Levi asked Eren.

"I don't need it," Eren said.

"Who gave you a medical license?" Levi shot back. "Once your nose stops bleeding, we're going."

"No!" Eren's cry surprised Levi, and Levi had to tighten his grip on Eren because Eren almost jerked out of his hold, and the last thing any of them needed was Eren's nose bleeding all over the fucking place. "I don't want to go."

"Why not?"

"I just don't want to." Eren crossed his arms stubbornly. "I'm fine. Can we just drop it?"

"Not when you look like you got beaten half to death," said Levi, loosening his thumb to check if Eren's nose had stopped bleeding, which it had. He was exaggerating with his words, but still.

"It doesn't hurt that much!" Eren appeared very determined to prove to Levi that he was completely a-okay, but Levi wasn't going to buy the act because all he could imagine now were the germs lingering on Eren's wounds, and it would be extremely appreciated if they were cleaned off to prevent infections.

"Eren," Levi said sternly. He wasn't going to take any arguments. "We're going to the nurse's office to get you cleaned up and bandaged properly. You can hate it, but I'm not letting you get even sicker from this." He wiped Eren's nose gently, wishing that he had some water to get the dried blood stain on Eren's cheek. Well, this would be taken care of once they got to the nurse's office.

Eren seemed to mull over his words. Finally, he uncrossed his arms, looking more agreeable but still very unconvinced. "But Jean is there."

"Who?"

"Jean's the boy that got into the fight with him," the receptionist added helpfully. Also something that Levi would rather hear from Eren. Eren had left a lot of explaining to be done by other people and Levi was not appreciating this very much. Levi was one hundred percent sure that Eren had a brain of his own, if only he would use it.

"The stupid horse-face—"

"Eren," Levi interrupted Eren's lovely speech on the aesthetic of Jean's face because he was going to see it for himself later. "We're going."

"No!"

Levi tried to remain calm even though it was getting more difficult to do so. He wasn't here to start a fight with a child; he was better than that. Even though Eren was making this harder to handle than it should have been, Levi tried to focus instead on Eren rather than his growing irritation.

_"Be gentle,"_Hanji had said.

"If you're worried that Jean is going to start something, I'll be there," Levi said, then added as an afterthought, "The nurse will also be there."

Eren still looked very uncomfortable, and Levi had to wonder if he really hated this Jean character that much. This shouldn't be much more than a simple scuffle between children, but judging from Eren's wounds and Eren's reaction to Jean, Levi had to revise his initial assumptions. However, he couldn't do much more than guess work if Eren refused to communicate with him. Levi remembered Hanji's words, how she said that Eren was not used to him yet, but that was unhelpful because Levi knew that at least; the problem was figuring out what he was supposed to do.

Levi wished he could ask Irvin for advice, but Irvin was busy chastising Levi for this, and Levi wasn't in the mood to give Irvin another opening to attack. Hanji was supposed to be helpful because she had two kids of her own, but she was busy encouraging Levi to do this on his own instinct._Need he remind her that he had no parental instinct?_

Eren silently made patterns on the floor with his shoe, and he startled Levi when he finally spoke, "If you're there, it's only going to make it worse."

That stung.

Fuck, that blow came out of nowhere. Even the receptionist who was pretending not to listen in to their conversation made a little gasp, and Levi was fucking embarrassed. So Eren was definitely in Irvin's Levi-can't-handle-shit camp. Well this was turning out to be a fucking pleasant experience. _Thank you for flying Levi parenting._

"Wait," Eren jerked from his seat. "That's not what I meant! It's not you; it's just…Jean.." He trailed off, looking even more conflicted. "Jean said that you're…" Eren stopped then, the next few words seemed as if they were physically painful to say.

Levi's mind was reeling, trying to put pieces together. "What did Jean say?"

"You'll be upset if I say it."

"I'm an adult. I could handle it." Levi was insulted that Eren would think that he could easily be emotionally defeated by a comment of an elementary school student. He didn't think he left that sort of an impression on Eren. He was going to have to rectify that.

"He called you a—"

The sound of the door opening interrupted Eren before he could finish. A blond boy walked in, bandages everywhere and cheek swollen from what Levi guessed was a good punch. Eren's eyes furrowed menacingly, and his fists clenched tightly on his lap. Levi had never seen such a look on Eren's face, not even at the funeral, and if Levi had to guess who this was..

"Hello Jean," the receptionist called out. "Take a seat. Your mother said that she will come in thirty minutes." Jean moved to sit as far away from Eren as possible, which were only three chairs away. The glare he returned to Eren was just as intimidating. Well, as intimidating as he could for an eleven year-old.

This Jean character looked unimpressive. He was bigger than Eren and looked like he started puberty earlier, and Levi had to admit he was fairly impressed that Eren managed to take him on.

Levi didn't think much of Jean, but then that Jean kid, finally noticing Levi's presence, had stopped his glaring contest with Eren and stared at Levi instead. Jean's stare was not welcoming, but it wasn't unpleasant either. Jean seemed curious of Levi more than anything.

"What are _you _staring at?" Eren growled, and Jean looked away.

"I'm not staring," Jean said petulantly as he tried to keep his gaze in front of him. It was a little amusing to Levi because he could sense that Jean was trying very hard not to look at them from the corner of his eye, but his gaze would betray him and slide toward Levi and Eren at times.

Amusing, yes; important? Probably not. Besides, Levi had a more pressing matter at hand. "Let's go to the nurse's office. You have no complaint now, right?"

"Yes, let's go!" Eren was so motivated to leave that he practically dragged Levi out the door by his wrist. Levi quickly pried Eren's hand off of him because there was no way in hell he was going to be dragged around by a kid, but Eren didn't seem to mind as long as they got as far away from Jean as possible.

Oh, Levi was definitely looking forward to being trapped in the principal's office with these two kids.

* * *

Eren must have had the same idea as Levi did because patching Eren up took longer than it should, and it was clearly past forty minutes when they both returned to the main office. By the time they walked in, however, Jean was still sitting alone in his seat, and his mother was still nowhere to be found. Levi could hear Eren's internal groan without actually hearing any noise from him; Eren's mood matched his own.

About twenty minutes into waiting, when Levi had successfully shaped a bear from the little bumps on the opposite wall and was starting to wonder if he had any white thread left in order to fix the shoulder of Eren's shirt, Jean's mother arrived. She walked in, looking very tired from a day of indoor work, probably something with too much sitting down and very little fresh air. Hanji once said that people usually looked like their work—with the exception of Levi because that permanent frown was there since he was born—and Levi had to agree when he took a glance at Jean's mother. They exchanged greetings and waited awkwardly as the receptionist went to inform the principal that everyone was here.

Eren was tense, and Levi patted his shoulder. "Don't be afraid of saying what you have to say," Levi said, and Eren didn't give him a reply.

As they settled inside the principal's office, Levi tried to look as if he knew what he was doing with this whole parenting business, or at least, as if he had half as much of an idea as the mother next to him.

"So," the principal began, folding his hands on his desk. "This is the tenth time that we have had this conference regarding Eren and Jean fighting. Of course, this is the first time for you, Mr—"

"Just Levi," Levi said.

Jean's mother cleared her throat, "And the tenth time for me." She turned to Levi. "I'm Mrs. Kirstein," she said in a tone that implied if Levi didn't mean business, she certainly was. Levi bit back his thought before it showed on his face. _What the hell was her problem?_

However, he knew what she, and possibly the principal as well, was thinking. Levi was young, and to make it worse, he looked younger than his age, and if he was honest with himself, he didn't feel like his age either. Adding another thing to the package, he didn't look like he was fit for raising children, and it wasn't because of his clothes—he was proud to say that he was very well-dressed—but because of the permanent expression on his face. Hanji said that it used to unnerve her how he could look angry, stern, and completely bored at the same time. Levi was going to have to make do with what he had because this wasn't something he could immediately fix.

"I really regret that this had to be our first meeting, Levi, but the matter of fact is: we can't let this slide with apologies any longer. I'm afraid that I have to suspend both boys, and Eren is no longer allowed to play in the soccer team."

"Wait," Levi was confused. This didn't make any fucking sense. "Are we not going to talk about what happened?"

"What is there to talk about?" Jean's mo—no, _Mrs. Kirstein_said. "Eren threw the first punch, again for the tenth time, and Jean was defending himself."

"I've been informed of that on the phone," said Levi. "But are we not going to talk about why this happened?" These people couldn't be fucking serious. They were already branding Eren as a criminal before they even asked him why he did what he did. What, did they think that children spontaneously burst out into fights without a reason?

sighed, and the principal explained. "We've tried very hard for the first nine times, but neither Eren nor Jean had said anything." Levi resisted the urge to say _'well you're not trying hard enough.'_"Even without a proper reason, we couldn't let these boys go unpunished."

"And many people saw that it was always Eren who hurt my son first," Mrs. Kirstein unhelpfully added. "Jean was just defending himself. Isn't that right, Jean?"

Jean remained silent as he stared at his lap, but Levi could tell that his head lowered a little at his mother's words. Jean, who was so stubborn before, looked very small and meek at his mother's presence. Mrs. Kirstein saw that too, and seemed to take her son's signal as an agreement. On the other hand, Eren remained unmoved. His expression was blank.

"Eren." Levi wasn't ready to let this go so easily. "Why did you punch Jean?"

Eren didn't reply, and Mrs. Kirstein clicked her tongue. "I know that you haven't been around long enough to know this, but Eren has always had something against my son." At her words, Levi saw Eren twitched a little in his seat, and fuck, Levi was getting tired of people speaking for Eren when Eren was there and he had his own mouth, thank you very much for your input.

"I want to hear what Eren wants to say," Levi narrowed his eyes, and that earned a flinch from both Mrs. Kirstein and the principal. Shit, he forgot to tune it down, but seriously, he just wanted Eren to talk, and these people were putting words in his mouth.

Levi took Eren's hand in his. Eren's hand was damp with sweat, and it was gross, but Levi was more concerned about Eren being so silent. Eren was a mouthy kid, but now, he was just taking blows after blows from adults without even trying to fight back. "Eren, I want to listen to whatever you have to say." _'And I'll make the others listen,'_he thought but didn't say aloud.

Levi could feel the tremble from Eren's body, and he knew that Eren had a lot to say; he just hadn't gotten a chance to say them. "Take your time." Levi stroke the back of Eren's thumb gently, the way Hanji did to him. "I'm here."

It was weird, but Levi suddenly remembered when Hanji did this for him, and it felt reassuring to know that she was going to stick around no matter what he was going to tell her. It had felt safe, and Levi wanted Eren to felt the way he did when Hanji comforted him, that Levi was going to stick around no matter what, that Eren was going to be stuck with Levi no matter what words he was going to say. Levi didn't know whether this feeling was good enough, but it was the only thing he knew to try.

"He said something bad about you," Eren looked at Levi hesitantly, and Levi remembered when Eren was trying to tell him something earlier, but Eren hadn't gotten a chance to.

"You could say it," Levi scoffed. "I won't break. Come on, it'll be the only opportunity where you could hit me with your best shot."

"But that doesn't mean I could get away with it," Eren said, and Levi had to bite back a _"You cheeky brat."_Levi wanted to commend Eren on the very nice reference to their first meeting; Eren had skillfully threw Levi's words back at him, but this was neither the time nor place for it.

"Why did you hit Jean, Eren?" Levi tried once more.

Eren was still hesitant, but at least his face wasn't blank as if he had given up. There were now emotions in them, anger mostly, but that was better than nothing.

"He called you," and here Eren flickered his eyes to the adults around the room, finally resting his gaze on Levi as he said with a hard swallow, "a child-molesting faggot." Eren's voice seemed to die out after that.

It wasn't when he felt Eren jerked that Levi realized he had gripped Eren's hand too tightly. He saw how frightened Eren was, and he suddenly realized that the expression on his face right now must be horrifying, but he couldn't fix it because something sharp was jabbing him and it was difficult to think. "I'm sorry," Levi said to Eren softly. "It'll be okay." Levi's heart was hammering, and he tried to calm himself down. _Slowly_, Irvin's voice echoed in his head. This had happened before and Levi had swung his fist without thinking, and Irvin had caught him before the other bastard could pay for his words; Irvin's steady arms a tight hold over the storm in Levi's mind. _You can't win this way._

"Well…" Mrs. Kirstein began, and Levi was really not in the mood to hear anything from her right now. "You shouldn't say such lies! I mean, this still doesn't excuse Eren hitting my son—"

Levi tried to sound the aloofness that he didn't feel. "I am gay."

"What?"

Looking at everyone's expressions, Levi could feel another reason being stacked on top of the "reasons why Levi was not fit to be a parent" pile, and frankly at this point, he couldn't find himself caring. "The child-molester bit is definitely a lie, like you've said. I have to say though I don't make a habit of referring to myself with homophobic slurs."

"Well," Mrs. Kirstein looked uncomfortable, but she wasn't ready to back down. "My son certainly had said some bad things, but that doesn't excuse Eren's actions. My son's words were only words."

"You're implying that Jean's words," and here Jean jumped at the mention of his name, "which were meant to hurt Eren emotionally, open him up to similar slurs from other students, and make his experience at school unsafe, are not as harmful because they don't leave a physical scar. And that it is okay for Eren to be more severely punished because of this." At this point Levi didn't know who he really was protecting anymore.

_Well, fuck that shit._

"I'm just saying that some of his words are not truthful, and some of his words are, and my son isn't at fault for not using the appropriate word choice that suits your taste."

Levi, at this point, was very used to the fucking "well if you are upset it's your fault" bullshit and he wasn't going to stand for it. He could hear Irvin's voice in his head telling him to suck it up because in life, he needed to swallow his pain and strategize for the long term, but really, Levi wasn't very good with that, and so he was going to leave the 'sucking up' to Irvin and other decent normal people. Levi wasn't sucking anything but a nice, delicious, and willing dick.

"I'm sure a lawyer will love to hear you whisper that to him on your loving hot date at a courtroom."

"Levi! Mrs. Kirstein!" The principal cut in, but he was a little too late because Eren seemed to burst alive from his seat.

"It's not Levi's fault that your son opened his mouth and said something stupid," Eren sat up in his chair to give Mrs. Kirstein a fierce look. "If I decided to call you the B-word, are you going to say it's your own fault too?"

"Eren, calm down." Levi squeezed his hand. Being disrespectful was not a good way to build a good case for Eren.

"Don't talk to my mother that way!" Jean seemed to recover from his meekness with Eren's outburst.

"Only if you apologize to Levi!"

"Eren, calm down!" Levi didn't need a squabble right now. It wasn't time for it. Eren settled back in his seat, but his eyes were still shimmering with anger.

"Jean," Levi said, and Jean looked surprised that Levi was addressing him. Whatever, it was stupid to talk about Jean when Jean was right there, and Levi could ask Jean himself. "Could you look me in the eye and tell me whether you have said those slurs to Eren?"

Jean stared at Levi, shell shocked, but he didn't look away. Jean seemed to be trapped in Levi's gaze, and Levi had been told that his eyes were so intimidating that people were too scared to retreat, and Jean was at that position now, and Levi should feel bad but he didn't. "Yes." Jean swallowed heavily. "I did. But I didn't mean it."

"Jean—" Mrs. Kirstein started to say, but Jean didn't seem to hear her.

"I'm sorry," Jean said, finally breaking himself from Levi's gaze. He slumped back in his seat, retreating into his shell once more.

The room fell into a deadly silence.

"The two boys will still be suspended for fighting on campus," the principal spoke slowly, breaking the tense ceasefire. "Eren can return to the soccer team once his school suspension ends."

"Regarding the slurs," the principal continued. "I'm sorry, but slur isn't an offense in the student handbook."

Levi tried not to let his disappointment showed, but he was used to it; slurs weren't considered a serious offense anywhere that he had lived, especially if they were homophobic. He had wanted the principal to say that it wasn't the right thing to do at least, but perhaps that was too much to ask.

"It's fine," Levi said. "I appreciate the fact that Jean apologize for it."

Levi tried to be as civil as he could when the conference ended. Besides, this was about Eren, not him. Eren could still play soccer. It was fine.

Mrs. Kirstein didn't take Levi's offer for a handshake. Good. He didn't want to shake her hand anyway.

Surprisingly, Jean did shake Levi's hand, but he too interested in his shoes to meet Levi's eyes. Levi took pity on him and patted his hand. "Thanks for being mature and apologizing," he said. Since the beginning, when Jean first set eyes on Levi, Levi could feel that Jean didn't have any resentment toward him. Perhaps Jean had said what he had said in the spur of the moment to make Eren angry, and maybe he didn't quite understand what he was saying either—it was likely that he repeated what he had heard from home or from somewhere else—only knowing that it was an insult but not the meaning.

Nevertheless, Levi shook Jean's hand harder than he should have.

Eren, followed Levi's example, shook Jean's hand too, although their handshake wasn't as friendly. It was probably too much asking for such an abrupt peace.

* * *

"So," Eren said Levi cursed at the afternoon traffic. "You're gay?"

Well this was going to be a long ride home.

"Yeah," said Levi. There was really no point in hiding it. He didn't even mean to hide it in the first place.

"Cool."

There was more silence after that. Usually, Levi was fine with it, but..

"Thanks for standing up for me," Levi admitted. "You probably didn't even know I was gay, but thanks."

"I'd still do it especially if I knew," Eren said, looking out at the car window and pointedly not meeting Levi's gaze.

Levi held back a smile. Eren's words were the only highlight of today, and he knew that he shouldn't encourage Eren to engage in violence, but he felt really good that Eren tried to protect him. It was the first time someone had tried to defend him in this way. Children were fearless; adults he knew weren't like that. However, Levi would rather that Eren didn't get hurt again like he did today.

"You shouldn't have gotten yourself beaten up for it though," gratefulness aside, Levi couldn't encourage violence.

"I was the one who beat him."

"Regardless." Levi's tone left no argument. "You can't swing your fist every time someone says something that you don't like. It's not worth it getting yourself hurt, am I making myself clear?"

"Yeah," Eren mumbled. "I got it."

* * *

Levi was brewing a pot of coffee for a late night of work when Hanji called. "How did it go?" She asked without a greeting.

"Hello to you too, shitty glasses," said Levi, and he knew that Hanji was grinning on the other end of the phone.

"Based on your pleasant greeting, I take it that the parent conference went well." Hanji sounded smug. There was an implied _'I told you that you could do it, but did you listen?'_but Levi decided to ignore it.

"It was okay," Levi said. He definitely lost his cool when he shouldn't have, but he wasn't sure if he even regretted it.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. Not yet." Levi was still feeling too much confusing emotions, and he still hadn't sorted them out.

"Alright, whenever you're ready."

"Hey, why did you think I could be a parent?" Levi asked. She had been the only adult who thought he could do it, and was the only person who encouraged him through the process.

"I don't know, I guess it's because you try to have Eren's best interest at heart?" Hanji said.

"That's not enough though." Levi rubbed the bridge of his nose. "What if I fuck up?" _Like today._

"You will make a mistake at some point," Hanji said. "You've just started. Even experienced parents make mistakes. But that's okay; you don't have to do everything perfect."

"What if I fuck him up?" It had been a rash decision to take Eren in, and today had been emotionally draining, and he wasn't sure if he even handled the situation as best as he could. There were so many things that he could have done better, and he was trying to not regret the decisions he had made—it was his life motto—but the presence of Eren in his life had shaken a lot of his basic foundations.

"Have more faith in yourself. Have more faith in Eren," Hanji consoled him. "Eren's a good kid. You're both trying really hard through this; try to be more confident, Eren needs to see that from you."

"I know," Levi sighed. The coffee machine stopped with a click, and he poured a cup for himself. The coffee was strong, but it was calming his nerves.

"How's Eren doing?"

"He seems fine. I found out that he really doesn't like asparagus today." Levi remembered their eventful dinner, when Eren had, for the first time, refused to eat the asparagus and admitted that he hated them, even though he had forced himself to eat them when Levi served them before. It was a step forward, perhaps. "Thanks," Levi said awkwardly. "I thought a lot about you today, and it helped."

"Oh, _Levi_." Levi could hear the smirk in her voice. "I'm married." She sounded scandalized.

"I'm hanging up now," Levi deadpanned.

After Hanji's eventful interruption of his evening, Levi returned back to work. He was about to retire to his desk when he spotted Eren peeking out from the hall way.

"What is it?" Levi asked, wondering how long Eren had been standing there.

Eren walked slowly toward Levi, notebook and pencil in tow. He looked at the cup of coffee in Levi's hand. "If you're busy—"

"It's fine," Levi said. "What is it?"

"You don't have to," Eren said hastily, "but if you want to, can you help me with my math homework?"

Levi blinked. He didn't expect Eren to ask that of him, but it was…nice. It was more than nice, actually, to be needed.

_You're both trying really hard through this._

Right.

"Of course," Levi answered. "Pull up a chair next to my desk and we'll go through it together."

* * *

Extra: Papa!Levi knew how to sew!

Eren's wounds had begun to heal nicely, and Levi was glad to see that he eased back into school life as normal. While Eren folded the clothes from the dryer, Levi took the opportunity to whip out his handy sewing kit to fix the shoulder of Eren's shirt, which was ripped during the fight.

Eren watched him with fascination.

"You're like a housewife."

"It's a useful skill," Levi said as he studied the stitching. "I can't afford to buy a new dress shirt every time there's a small problem that I could easily fix myself." Dress shirts were ridiculously expensive, and a sewing kit was ridiculously cheap. Levi was all for efficient saving of money.

"Ok," Eren said. Then, "Could you re-sew a button on my winter jacket?"

"Do you still have the button?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, bring it here."

Eren had perfect timing because by the time Levi was finished fixing his shirt; Eren had already made it with his winter jacket and button in tow. From a glance, Levi could tell that he ran out of the color that would match the jacket, but maybe he could find a color that was close.

While Levi was busy with the button, Eren began to talk about his soccer team, which he was finally able to join after the suspension. Levi enjoyed Eren's chatter in the background, but then the topic changed.

"Jean is still creeping on Mikasa, but not so much anymore," Eren said.

Oh, Jean. "Are you guys still fighting?"

"No," Eren shook his head. "He still calls me names, and I still hate him."

"Ah," Levi nodded. Well, such was youth.

"He said I suck, but you're cool," and Levi was surprised because he thought Jean was scared shitless of him.

"That's good to know," Levi said, finishing up with Eren's button.

"He's kind of creepy," Eren said, and it was the hundredth time that he had mentioned this, so Levi didn't pay it any mind. "He keeps mentioning that he is into black-hair beauties, and Mikasa is never going to give him the light of day, so I don't know why—" Suddenly Eren just stared at Levi, his sentence hanging awkwardly.

"What?" Levi asked.

"Nothing," Eren said. "Forget I said anything. Did you finish re-sewing my button?"

"Yeah, I think I'll re-sew the other ones too since they're a little loose."


End file.
